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| Author |
File Description |
| ChuckisChuck |
Posted on 05/22/04 @ 04:41 PM (updated 06/10/04)
| File Details |
|---|
| Ruleset: |
AoW: SM - TS Standard Rules |
| Map Size: |
M |
| Levels: |
2 |
| Single Player?: |
Yes |
| Co-Op vs. AI?: |
No |
| PBEM/Hotseat?: |
Yes |
| Multiplayer Online?: |
Yes |
| # of Wizards: |
7 |
| # of players: |
7 |
| Skill Level: |
Any (depends on AI difficulty setting) |
| Password Protected: |
No |
The Art of War scenario is a map designed for both aggressive and strategic play. Although a medium size map, the map plays lengthly enough (at Emperor Level) while also providing for relatively quick encounters. The map consists of seven players; one of Pure Good, one of Pure Evil and five Neutrals. The domains for each wizard have been strategically placed with one in the Shadow World, two in the Underground and four on the Surface World. Each surrounding region caters to each wizard's domain, thus giving a sense of political control and logical terrain. (Ex. Race of nearby towns, sphere of nodes and etc.) The terrain itself has been designed with a sense of realism with interesting waterways and mountain ranges thus allowing for tactical play. Although the map's obvious features are predetermined (starting locations, armies and etc.) there is some randomness. Such randomness includes distant towns, defenses, gold/mana rewards, patrols and of course the "goodies" themselves which all in all could provide a differing pace for each new game without upsetting the overall balace of the map. In summary, Art of War is a map designed for intense play whether for multiplayer or single player and as the infamous saying goes,
"Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer".
Map updated 10 June 2004
Map features and notes...
- Customized Wizards with each their own unique and approiate abilitities and sphere of magic.
- Customized starting Hero along with a few others mixed in with some of the old classic ones. (Why not, they need a job too.)
- Customized magical items with also some of the old classic ones. (Hey, there was a sale on them.)
- Varying population limits on all but your capital. (Planned with the idea in mind to reduce the amount of incoming gold and to have longer construction times for farther away towns. This also works great when if you should lose a village or town. This would not be too much of a loss for you as well as not too much of a gain for your enemy except strategical. It also promotes the production of lower level units even when the game has advanced to the use of higher level units.)
- Each race is intolerable of all the other races. Call it "politics" but what this means is that you will receive heroes of your own races except for those that have been specially designed. Also you will not be able to keep control of different race units except by group force. (I use to hate it when if you were playing the Tigrans and a Frostling Hero would come to join your cause... is the Hero on vacation?... yeah right, hope the hero brought some suntan lotion!)
- There is no neutrality. Every player is at war with everyone. Therefore, the only real diplomacy is deception!
- Strategic use of terrain and racial abilities. Each race is placed against other approiate races. (Ex. Human Knights with their "Dragon Slaying" ability vs Draconians with with their "Night Vision" ability.)
- No use of Call Hero Spell please.
- And finally for those who enjoy a bit of a storyline, there are both entertaining and informative signs scattered throughout the lands. Also, there are backgrounds for each wizard and for certain heroes. An introduction to the scenario is written below.
Well, that's it, so I hope you have fun!!!
ChuckisChuck
Now for those who enjoy storylines...
The Art of War takes place upon a small continent know simply as Urth which in the Ancient Tongues means "the surface world". This name derives from the fact that the mountainous lands contain many caves which most lead to an extensive underground. At the center of the continent, towers the Great Mountain whose presence commands the surrounding lands. It is here where hidden springs give birth to the Enchanted Valley as well as providing for other fresh water sources. Urth possesses very unique features, most notably the Great Mountain, however the inhabitants know all too well that anywhere on the continent, life can be either hospitable or unforgiving.
For centuries there has been primarily peace across the lands of Urth. Home to the oddest as well as sometimes dangerous creatures, the "surface world" is also host to four very differing societies. In the north live the cold loving Frostlings. In the western lands, the Humans lay claim. To the far and arid east survive the tribal Nomads. And south, past the Enchanted Valley, is the Archonian Empire. Two more races exist on Urth and they dwell in the underworld. They are the self waring Tigrans and the rarely seen Draconians. But now comes forth a seventh race. A strange and destructive force, one of pure evil. They have come to be known as the Shadow Demons.
Arriving from a dimension known only as the Shadow World, the Shadow Demons bring with them death and destruction. They have been seen traveling to and from the lands by use of these structures know as portals. For centuries these portals were left hidden and thought to have been just ancient ruins. Now, with fear, they are watched. Very little is known about these strange and foul creatures, however none the less, they must be dealt with before it is too late. But what the Shadow Demons have also brought is a renewed sense for war. This war will be of epic proportions, affecting all of the inhabitants of Urth.
Until now it has always been that the Archonian Empire were the strongest rulers of the lands. Most likely they will be the first to respond to the threat of the Shadow Demons. But as for the others, their position remains to be seen. The Frostling Queen Aria would like to remain isolated from the impending doom but knows this will be unlikely. The Tigrans with their methodical leader, Efiri, sees this as an opportunity to maybe join with the Shadow Demons and drive out the Nomads from the surface lands above. However, this will not be easy. Terah, Princess of the Nomads, has dealt with the Tigrans before and the Nomads are known for their unique strengths in survival. At the western end and like the Tigrans, the Humans also see this as an opportunity, at least Wareet, their self proclaimed king, believes so. He feels he can use his armies to try to "protect" the trade routes among the southern and eastern regions. Of course, this would be for a fee. As for the mysterious Draconians and their Chosen One, Socmyos, they know that the Shadow Demons desire only conquest and death and nothing else. They also know that because of this, all of Urth will be in turmoil, leaving them with no choice but to take part in the struggle for Urth.
Only time will tell as for the outcome of the war. This war will be about conquest and it will be about total annihilation, there will be no neutrality. The faring wizards have arose to power and each with their own agenda. Each wizard brings magic as well as their own armies. But also and with sword in hand, each of them know all too well that with war there is opportunity...
thus this Art of War has begun.
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| Pages: [1] 2 » Last » | | Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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| bigben34 |
Posted on 05/29/04 @ 10:51 AM
Map will not take forever to play
Balance: 5
It is obvious author spent enormous amount of time balancing resources and strategy
Creativity: 5
Descriptions of heroes and items are very creative
Map Design: 5
Beautiful Landscape
Story/Instructions: 5
Author includes a nice history
Additional Comments:
Consider playing this in place of your next multiplayer game.
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| Blind Thrall |
Posted on 06/09/04 @ 09:33 PM
This map has some pretty frantic action at emperor.The AI can put up a good fight until the bitter end,and has actually used cloaked units to ambush me.Usually I'm able to just hold my borders until that next Lord/Dark Angel.Giving everyone two good heroes almost right off the bat was a good idea as well.
Balance: 4
Everyone starts off in friendly terrain,and has equal nodes and such,but earth got screwed with really tough guards,and the Shadow Demons can just chokepoint everyone at the beginning,but nothing really major.
Creativity: 5
The new heroes are all great as are the items.The dozens of signs everwhere is an excellent touch.The wizards are all interesting which is the best they can be for passive spellcasters.
Map Design: 5
Outstanding.It felt like it took ages to move ground troops anywhere,but flyers could zip across this map.No wonder Tigrans and Dracs have to start underground.Everything looked natural,like it belonged where it was.
Story/Instructions: 4
The wizard histories were very interesting,as were the heroes,but I think it could've used more events.
Additional Comments:This is a very finished and professional-looking map.It has high levels of depth,creativity,and gameplay.All too often I'll play a level with really engrossing story and it's just two armies marching straight at each other.Or there will be frantic action...against the same boring old wizards.nice to see one to get it right.
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| Magog |
Posted on 06/29/04 @ 12:39 AM
It's playable alright, but the fact that you have hostile relations to all other races becomes annoying. Unit rewards become worthless, unless they are of the same race. You must migrate all cities you capture, and you can't make peace with other wizards. I know some people like it this way, but I still think the player himself should be able to decide wich way he wants to play.
Balance: 4
I got the feeling that the wizards below the surface had an advantage? I might be wrong on this, since it seems like a lot of work has been put into balancing the map.
Creativity: 5
The terrain and map details are great.
Map Design: 5
Good.
Story/Instructions: 5
Great hero descriptions!
[Edited on 06/29/04 @ 05:59 AM]
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| Henrysix |
Posted on 06/30/04 @ 11:35 PM
Quite enjoyable. It's fairly difficult to get to other wizards, so you have the time to develop in a variety of ways.
Balance: 4
Can't really comment since I only played one game of SP.
Creativity: 5
Varied terrain, great use of underground.
Map Design: 5
Terrific map. I like maps with lots of difficult terrain, and this is one.
Story/Instructions: 3
Conquer everything to win. Not much plot. The signs are fun.
Additional Comments:
I love the beefed-up wizards. Usually you end up sticking your wizard in a tower and staying there for the entire game, but since the wizards have Leadership III the decision on whether or not to keep them in the field is actually much more interesting. |
| zeta |
Posted on 07/03/04 @ 12:57 PM
Very enjoyable.
Balance: 5
Excellent. The Shadow Demons and Humans are a bit stronger, the Frostlings a bit weaker, but you could win or lose with anyone.
Creativity: 5
There are new heros (with pics) and storyies which make it fun.
Map Design: 5
Great. A medium-sized map with three levels that plays bigger, but without the delays of L and XL maps.
Story/Instructions: 5
Although not a single-player scenario, and not many quests or scripted events, the signs and heros make things fun.
Additional Comments:
This map has a lot of things going for it. It is pretty and well balanced. Due to "politics" the races don't get along. You therefore can't get away with using too many foreign units... which really adds a twist to playing tigrans or Arcons (dominate and resurrect become much less useful.) There are nice growth limits on most non-capitol cities, which makes the capitols much more formidible (even though you may have captured all of your enemies other cities, you still aren't all-powerful and he can still put up a fight.) And each capitol city starts off with a sactuary and war hall, thus it doesn't take long to get to level fours, but due to the map, the lower units are also heavily needed. All in all, a great map.
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| Evil Roc |
Posted on 12/14/04 @ 04:42 PM
Playes good, events can keep you in strain as well as opponents.
Balance: 4
I have a slight feeling that this part of the map can be improved. Some players seem to have a bit more good position then others. Yet it is still good balanced.
I do not understand purporse of some guarding stacks thought. Especialy that rainbow end guarded with 7 leprechauns! Madness.
Creativity: 4
Have quite a lot of original features
Map Design: 5
Everything seems good placed. Some of dead ends with chaos nodes look excellent. Landform of shadow realm is great too.
Story/Instructions: 5
Signs are fun to read if you are in mood, and multiplayer map does not need much storytelling.
Additional Comments:
Good map for multiplayer games. |
| Timelord |
Posted on 02/02/05 @ 04:55 PM
So far, playing as Archons and its been great exploring the terrain. Though its a small map for 7 wizards, the terrain modelling makes it difficult to get to other wizards easily.
An absolutely wonderful touch are the signs and the race relations. Original and unique.
I haven't played as any other wizard yet but looking at the other players' logs, it does look fine. |
| Pecio |
Posted on 04/16/05 @ 07:29 AM
(Insert Playability analysis here)
Balance: 5
(Insert Balance analysis here)
Creativity: 4
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Map Design: 4
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
Story/Instructions: 3
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
Additional Comments:
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| Idealistos |
Posted on 11/21/06 @ 10:31 PM
Very well playable, with just enough structures and area guards. I've rated it with "4" only because of unexpected storms produced by events, and a couple of other minor things.
Balance: 5
Very good balance. It looks like all wizards have good chances for winning in PBEM.
Creativity: 5
The map is unusual and interesting. And it should be awarded as "the map with the most interesting signs" :)
Map Design: 5
Very nice usage of the shadow realm, interesting caves, well thought-out borders between players (forests, mountains or rivers). The concept of hostile races is hard to get used to, but it is what makes the game unique.
Story/Instructions: 5
There are no warnings of some events, but I've already given "4" in playability for that. But I can't resist giving "5" for the general "instructions" inscibed in signs.
Additional Comments:
I'd recommend this game for PBEM. |
| PetrusOctavianus |
Posted on 11/29/07 @ 04:16 AM
Very enjoyable map that can be played both MP and SP. Great replayability.
Balance: 4
Recruit sites with lvl 4 Units unbalance the SP experience a bit.
Creativity: 4
Map Design: 5
Detailed and pretty with good use of mountains to make it seem bigger.
No Teleporters (that work) and few Haste Berry trees.
Different size limits of locations is a big plus and ensures most units come into play.
Story/Instructions: 4
All wizards and most heroes are custom made with their own background histories. This is a battle map, not a story map, so not much story after the start, but lots of signs scattered about.
Additional Comments:
The best pure battle map I've played so far; I've never seen the AI put up a better fight than in this game.
[Edited on 11/29/07 @ 04:23 AM]
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
|---|
| 4.6 | | Breakdown |
|---|
| Playability | 4.6 | | Balance | 4.5 | | Creativity | 4.7 | | Map Design | 4.9 | | Story/Instructions | 4.4 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 7,002 |
| Favorites: [] | 1 |
| Size: | 327.59 KB |
| Added: | 05/22/04 |
| Updated: | 06/10/04 |
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